I recently got this new pup with big idea of training him to find sheds. He is young. I need to help on how to train this dog. I would like to train him to sit lay stay find sheds etc. I just don't know what order and what ages to do everything. He already sits on command so he has little bit of a brain. Lol. Any pointers from anyone would be greatly appreciated.
Just love on him, play with him and reward shed finding. Hide some in the yard, easy to find and big rewards when he brings it to you. Enjoy your new buddy!
Everything Shed Dog- Shed Dog Training, Antler Hunting Dogs Go to this site and by the antler scent that comes in the chapstick form. I also bought the dvds, but nowadays you can find so much stuff on the internet you might not need it. Ill tell ya what I did. I got my pup at 8wks. The day he got home I gave him a shed. He started chewing on it right away. I always left it laying around so he could chew it when he pleased. I then would throw it for him and let him bring it back. After three or four times, they get bored. Don't push it to hard. Take lots of breaks. Once he got decent at retrieving and knew his basic obedience, I would make him sit and stay while I placed the antler ten to twenty yards away. Then I would say get the bone, and he would go after it. This eventually turned into sit and stay while I threw it. (always used the antler scent chapstick too). Once he got that figured out, I move to tall grass. I would throw it in grass where he couldn't see it once it landed. Always throwing into the wind. At this phase he learns that his nose will be the only way to find them in these conditions. So now he has the visual antler engraved, but he is also learning to hunt with his nose. After he started doing well in these conditions, I would take him for walks in areas where we shed hunt. This is the key part of training in my opinion. This is where he encounters all the deer poop and pee, wolf and coyote scat, all sorts of smells. Now he learns what he is suppose to be smelling for. So what I would do was let him get preoccupied with whatever, while I place the sheds. I then would strategically walk him on the downwind side of the sheds. Now once he was finding the antlers, repetition is key. Every day. Five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour, whatever you have time for. I always reward with treats and praise. My pup found his first antler at 12 weeks. I turned around and he was walking behind me carrying it. lol . This year we are still buried in snow but we have 7 total. He has 4 and I have 3. Its the best thing I ever did. I always enjoyed shed hunting, but now seeing my dog find em makes me wanna go everyday. Its very rewarding watching our hard work pay off. Good luck to you. Oh and you will have very frustrating days, just stick with it.
